Lecture 6: Socioeconomic Status (SES) Flashcards
stratification
Unequal distribution of valued resources
how is stratification created?
arrangements in society
stratification requires:
- Categorization based on achieved (earned) and ascribed (at birth) traits
- Labelling of categories as in-and out-groups
- Existence of mechanisms to reserve resources for the in-group and extract them from the out-group
how is stratification maintained?
- Social closure: entry restriction and exclusion to monopolize resources
- Exploitation: expropriation of resources
- Opportunity hoarding: access restriction via exclusion
- Othering: actions that label someone as the “Other”
- Boundary work and maintenance: group boundaries are negotiated and maintained
holy trinity of stratification
Class
Ethnicity/race
Gender
socioeconomic status
The process by which individuals are afforded unequal access to rewards and resources
measures of SES
- Education (most stable)
- Occupation
- Economic resources (income; poverty; wealth)
functionalist theory
- Society is interdependent and reliant on several functioning parts
- Stratification is necessary for the greater good of society
- It exists so that individuals are sorted into appropriate occupations
general principles of functionalist theory
- Some jobs are more important than others
- Some jobs require more skills and knowledge
- Few people can acquire the skills and knowledge needed
- To entice people with the skills and knowledge to do highly skilled jobs, society must promise remarks
class system according to functionalist theory
Assumes an open class system: everyone can sort themselves into different social classes
conflict theory
- Fundamental conflict between haves and have-nots
- The elite controls society
class system according to conflict theory
Assumes a rigid/closed class system: people tend to remain in the socioeconomic class that they grow up in
SES and mental health findings
- As income inequality in a country increases, the percentage of people with any mental illness increases.
- There is a significant decreasing linear trend in mental health by poverty level.
- Those of lower SES experience greater declines in mental well-being relative to their higher-SES counterparts
- Deaths of despair in the U.S. decreased by education level
- Higher SES in Detroit following the 2008 recession predicted better mental health outcomes
two explanations for the SEP-mental health relationship
- Social causation (SEP -> mental health disorder)
- Social selection (mental health disorder -> SEP)
Dennis et al., 2021
Trauma mediates the relationship between SES and increased depression and anxiety.
